Relief from pain

Recently,Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Chinchwad non-surgically treated a 35-year-old woman Rama who had been diagnosed with Osteoid Osteoma. Dr Yadav W Munde,interventional radiologist at Aditya Birla Hospital,said that in Osteoid Ostema,a dull pain escalates to severe at night,accompanied by limping,muscle atrophy,bowing deformity,swelling and increased or decreased bone growth. This pain can be relieved with over-the-counter pain medication in the beginning. But when the benign tumour develops further the pain cannot be alleviated with medication and minor to severe swelling starts to occur,” explains Munde.

The types of treatment for Osteiod Osteoma vary based on the health of the individual with the tumour. These can be treated with non-steroidal,anti-inflammatory,surgical or percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (the use of electrodes to generate heat and destroy abnormal tissue through the skin). Rama’s time was restricted and she wanted to get back home at the earliest,hence Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) was the preferred treatment option in her case.

“This is a minimally invasive procedure in which radio frequencies are passed beneath the skin through a needle to kill the tumour cells by heating them to a high temperature,” explains Munde,who performed this technique under CT scan guidance. “RFA is preferred because it can be done on day-care basis,is minimally invasive,has a very short recovery time (unlike open surgery,which needs a few weeks’ rest),has 100 per cent technical success rate,is a curative treatment and does not weaken the bone as much a surgery does,” he adds further.

The procedure went on for one hour and Rama was discharged within 12. At the time of discharge,she was completely relieved from the pain due to the tumour,says Munde.